The Lady Doth Protest Too Much
The Lady Doth Protest Too Much is the twenty-first episode of Out of Practice. Plot Oliver hears someone making coffee and calls for Ben to make enough for him too. Then Ben comes out into the living room. He thought Oliver was making coffee. Oliver says he doesn't have a girl over and there's no way Ben does. They check who it is and finds Stewart. He didn't want to wake Crystal. He hasn't been sleeping lately. He offers to make them breakfast, but Oliver needs to pack for a conference. Stewart asks where he's going. It's in town. He's staying in a hotel for the perks. He bickers with Ben for a moment about his needs to clean constantly. Lydia comes in just as Ben goes back to his room. Stewart comes out of the kitchen talking about Crystal, but stops suddenly when he sees Lydia. Stewart leaves. Lydia pulls a gargoyle of the mantle and suggests that Ben try to sell it. He says he can't sell it because it's Naomi's. He puts it back on the mantle. Lydia says he should get rid of Naomi's things. The two of them get ready to leave. Stewart helps Danielle carry some of her things. Lydia sees them and tells him to take it easy. He tells her that Danielle is Ben's new neighbor. She's new to the city and doesn't know anyone. Lydia calls for Ben. She introduces Ben and Danielle and Ben helps Danielle with her stuff. At the diner, Regina and Oliver are sitting when a waitress comes up and slams their water down on the table. Regina wonders why she did that, but Oliver doesn't know. Oliver's looking at his swag bag from the conference. She wonders if he just gets those things for showing up. He says he has to be on a panel, but no one even goes to those things. Lydia and Ben come in and are arguing about Ben asking Danielle out. He's still not over Naomi. They encourage him to get over Naomi. Oliver finds out she lives in the building and he encourages Ben not to ask Danielle out. He says never to date anyone you can't avoid when it goes south. The waitress comes back and slams some more things. They get upset with Oliver for ruining their diner. Regina is looking through a pamphlet and asks Oliver about the speech he's giving. He says it's not a speech, but she shows him where they're calling it a speech. He's upset about it. Stewart comes in to find Ben sitting on the couch watching TV. He saw Danielle in the laundry room and asks if Ben would consider her. He says he would down the road. The doorbell rings and Stewart tells him to lose his wedding ring. Stewart put one of his magazines in Danielle's mailbox so she would come drop it off. Stewart lets Danielle in and leaves. Ben awkwardly talks to her for a few minutes before she leaves. He calls himself an idiot. The doorbell rings again and he answers it. It's Naomi. He asks why she's there. She asks if she can come in. He allows her to do that. She says she wanted to call, but she felt guilty. She's been trying to figure what went wrong between them. He says she called and ended their marriage on an answering machine and then stole all the furniture. He asks why she's there. She wants to crash there. He says it's not a good idea. He's moved on and they should make a clean break. He hides his wedding ring while he says that. She doesn't have another place to stay. She says she'll figure it out, but he agrees to let her stay. He has rules, which are in place to keep his family from finding out. They walk back to the bedrooms. Naomi is making breakfast. She asks him about a picture of Oliver in the bathroom. he says it was a fight to get it off the fridge. They hear Oliver in the living room and Ben tells her to stay there. Oliver is looking for his folder. He was up all night working on his speech. Ben finds the folder and tries to keep Oliver from going into the kitchen, but it's too late. Oliver sees not Naomi, but the food she was making. He thinks Ben was doing it and calls him out on it. Naomi rushes to hide as Oliver goes back into the living room. Oliver tries out his speech for Ben, but Ben rushes him out the door. At the door, they meet up with Stewart. Stewart's there for a CD. Naomi tries to make her way out, but Lydia comes in with Monty looking for Stewart and Naomi hides behind the door. Stewart apologizes for forgetting Monty. He was working on Oliver's speech with him. Monty starts barking at where Naomi is standing. Stewart finds a woman's robe and asks Ben about it. Ben goes to confess about Naomi, but Stewart brings up Danielle and he says it was her. They all leave and Ben sighs in relief. Regina comes into the diner where Ben is eating. Regina says Oliver thinks he's so cool for getting all that free stuff, but she got a little green army man. She got it out of a kid's stomach. She's heard about Danielle and asks Ben for details. She smells something weird and sniffs Ben. She smells Naomi on him. He admits that Naomi is staying with him and begs her not to tell anyone. Regina tells him to be careful. A waitress comes over and drops Ben's food onto the table. Ben says Oliver's going to make it impossible for them to eat there, but Regina admits that that one was her. Naomi and Ben are eating dinner while Naomi tells a story. She made dinner to thank him for letting her stay there. She says she's missed them. She leans over and kisses Ben. He asks what it was. She tries to kiss him again, but he stops her. She thinks leaving was a mistake. She wants to go away with him for a few days and figure things out. He agrees to it. Naomi's phone rings and she answers it. Someone in Florida is building on a wetland. She asks if they can push back their trip while she goes down there to stop that. Lydia is on the phone telling Stewart she's there to pick up Monty. She rings the bell and goes into Ben's. She sees the table set for dinner and asks if she's interrupting. Ben tries to usher her out the door, but Oliver and Stewart come in. Oliver was booed of the stage for a racist joke Stewart gave him. Ben tries to usher them all out the door. Naomi comes out of the kitchen and they're all shocked to see her. They're all angry with her. He asks them to leave him alone with Naomi. Stewart and Lydia leave, but Oliver stays before realizing he's not wanted. Naomi liked seeing Ben standing up to his family. She goes to pack her things, but he packed for her. She realizes he packed all her things. He doesn't want to work things out with her. She says she'll miss him and leaves. Ben is looking through mail when the doorbell rings. He peeks out into the hall at the same time as Danielle. Stewart rang both of their bells to get them to talk. Cast 1x21BenBarnes.png|Ben Barnes 1x21ReginaBarnes.png|Regina Barnes 1x21OliverBarnes.png|Oliver Barnes 1x21StewartBarnes.png|Stewart Barnes 1x21LydiaBarnes.png|Lydia Barnes 1x21Naomi.png|Naomi 1x21Danielle.png|Danielle Main Cast *Christopher Gorham as Ben Barnes *Paula Marshall as Regina Barnes *Ty Burrell as Oliver Barnes *Henry Winkler as Stewart Barnes *Stockard Channing as Lydia Barnes Guest Starring *Constance Zimmer as Naomi *Stephanie Lemelin as Danielle Notes and Trivia *This episode was produced as the seventh episode, but is listed as the twenty-first. Gallery 1x21-1.jpg 1x21-2.jpg See Also Category:Episodes